Son of darkness

The soldiers stared at the demon, frozen in fear. The general, seeing his men paralyzed, shouted:

"Don't just stand there! Our enemy is a mid-tier demon!"

Hearing their general's voice, the soldiers slowly began to recover.

Seeing this, the general smiled, pleased. He turned to face them—but suddenly saw the demon's claws flying straight at him. The strike was devastating and came from the left.

The general was thrown back ten meters and crashed into a tree. It happened so fast that the soldiers didn't even register it. All they saw in the end was their general's lifeless body.

Some of the soldiers couldn't even stay on their feet. Sensing their fear, the snow mountain demon's face twisted into a bestial grin—like a predator toying with prey.

As the demon was about to strike, Raihan intervened. A downward slash came crashing toward the demon, but he shielded himself with a wing.

"Damn, his wings are tough..."

The demon lunged forward at incredible speed. Raihan and most of the soldiers managed to dodge, but two were too slow. The demon grabbed one and began devouring him. The screams of the dying were unbearable. The soldiers watched in horror.

After tossing the body aside, the demon turned again—his monstrous grin still in place.

Meanwhile, David had finally managed to stop the one dragging him forward.

"I got rid of him... but I killed him... What do I feel? Fear? Guilt? No... nothing. Because I know..."

"If I hadn't stopped him, I'd be the one dead..."

Suddenly, realization struck David.

"Why? Why do I care so much about living?.. Just yesterday, I told myself I didn't care if I died here or not. But now I'm clinging to every chance to survive..."

He truly hadn't cared. But now that death was breathing down his neck, his body refused to accept it. Every fiber screamed, "Live!"

Accepting that, David turned around—and saw a mangled corpse of a soldier. A few seconds later, the body started to twitch. David frowned. Rising to his feet, he saw:

Where the demon had bitten him, sharp bone-like growths were sprouting. The corpse locked eyes with David, growled, and lunged at him.

The creature tackled him, but David grabbed its hands. Thanks to the chain connecting his wrists, the creature couldn't reach his face.

"Get off me, bastard!"

With the last of his strength, David kicked it in the stomach and threw it off. Getting to his feet, he thought:

"This isn't a demon. It's weaker... a twisted zombie. If demon blood gets into a human's body, he becomes neither demon nor human—just a walking corpse."

The zombie circled him, waiting for an opening. But David wasn't stupid. Slowly backing toward a cliff, he turned his back to the creature.

It lunged.

Though he couldn't see, David's senses were sharpened. Through his darkness ability, he saw without sight.

Just before the hand could touch him, he ducked low. The zombie, unable to stop, flew past and fell into the abyss.

Breathing heavily, David muttered:

"Take that, bastard..."

He turned and looked toward the battle between Raihan and the snow demon. Then he looked at his own hands.

"I have to get rid of these chains."

He approached a fallen soldier and found a sword. Picking it up, he tried to break the chain—but it was no use. The metal was too strong.

Frustrated, he thought:

"I can't take him head-on. That would be suicide. I have to throw him off the cliff... but those damn wings are the problem..."

Looking around, he saw the bodies of the slaves. Only two had survived—one around twenty years old, the other in his forties. They were sitting and resting.

Scanning the caravan, he saw a net covering it and a strong rope nearby. Thinking quickly, he ran to the two slaves.

"Get up. I need your help!"

The two looked confused. The younger one snapped:

"Why the hell should we listen to you?"

David answered:

"If you want to live, do as I say."

The young man grew angry, but the older one intervened:

"Calm down, Erot. He's right. If we want to survive, we need to act."

Erot clenched his teeth but said nothing.

"What do you need?" the older man asked.

"You'll pull the caravan forward on my signal, understood?"

While they nodded, David grabbed the net and rope and tied them together. Looking toward the snow demon, he whispered:

"Alright, bastard... Get ready."